2001 Adjutant Generals

Combat Sniper Match

BY

SFC Pete Carpentier JR

NCOIC

SART Section

On 27-29 April 01 the SART Section put on the Adjutant Generals Combat Sniper Match. This is the tenth year for this match and it was held at Camp Swift in Bastrop TX. The match is open to any Texas National Guard member and this year we had 12 teams from all over Texas. We also had three Marine Reserve. The Marines were from a STA Platoon out of Houston. All three were in a Scout/sniper Platoon in their unit. The Marines used the M40A1 sniper rifle. Also the Guard teams had to either use the M-24 SWS or the M-21. The M-24 SWS is the current sniper rifle used by the US Army. It is a Remington 700 Bolt action rifle. It has a M3A Leupold scope, with a Mil-dot reticle. It fires the M118SB ammo in 7.62 caliber. The M-21 sniper rifle was also available for use. The M21 is a highly modified M14 rifle. It is a semi automatic rifle and has an ARTII scope. Three teams used this rifle.

Sniper teams zeroing.

On 27 April the SART Section had the range available for sniper teams to zero their weapons. The teams checked there zeros at 100 and 300 yards. During this time we were also able to fire the M40A1 sniper rifle the Marines brought. The marines gave use a short class on the weapon. These Marines were very knowledgeable and one of them had just got back from Advance Sniper school. It was a pleasure to work with these marines.

The IronMike Target. This is the target used for the Day and Night Cold Barrel Engagment.

28 April was Day one of the match. The sniper teams were given a safety briefing and an overview of the matches they would be firing over the next two days. The first match the sniper teams fired was the Cold Barrel Engagement. In this match the sniper is brought up to the firing line. Down range there is several Iron Mikes setup at unknown distances. The iron mikes are 20x40 in diameter. The sniper is given a target and then has three minutes to range the target and engage it with one round. If the sniper hits the target with the first round he is given 50 points. If he misses, he is given another round in which to engage with and if he hits, he is given 25 points. If he misses with both rounds it is a zero. Also this is done without the aid of an Observer. The range to the target was 640 meters and there were several first round hits.

The next thing the sniper teams did was a KIMs game. The teams were taken to a location to observer 10 military items in 2 minutes.

Sniper team shooting the SRT Match.

The next match the sniper teams fired was the SRT match. This match is fired on a Known Distance range. In this match the sniper teams start at the 100-yard line. The sniper loads with 5 rounds. Down range a target will come up out of the pits for a three-second exposure. The target will be a hostage target that will only have four inches to shoot at. If you hit the hostage, it is a 10-point penatly. After the sniper fires, the observe will also fire 5 rounds at the same type target. After the observer fires, he will load with 5 rounds and they will prepare to run to the 200 yard line. At the 200 yard line there will be a wall and the teams must fire from the standing position, using the wall as support. Again a target will come out of the pits and the team will have three second to engage the target. The target is 20x20. After both team members fire at this yard line they will again load 5 rounds and run to the 300 yard line. At the 300 there will be a low obstacle to shoot under. Again a target will come out of the pit and they will have three second to engage the target. Both members will fire five round from this yard line. They will again load five rounds and run to the 400-yard line. At the 400 there is a rooftop. They must fire from the rooftop. From here a target will come out of the pits. This time the target is a moving target. It will move across range and then go down. The team will engage the target 5 times. After both members have engage the target, they will load with 5 rounds and run to the 500-yard line. At the 500 there is a window obstacle that has a table and two chairs. The team will setup and engage a target that comes out of the pit. This time they will have 6 seconds to engage the target. Again both members fire from this yard line. They will again load five round and run to the 600-yard line. At the 600 there is a barrel turned on its side. The teams must use the barrel for support. Again the teams will engage a target that comes out of the pits for 6 seconds. Both team members fire a total of 30 rounds in this match. A hit on the target is worth 5 point. The total points for this match is 150.

The next match the sniper teams fired was the Moving target match. In this match the sniper teams will engage one stationary target and four moving targets. Again this match is fired on a Known Distance range. The sniper teams will engage targets at 300,400,500 and 600 yards. Each team member will fire 20 rounds in this match. The target is a 12x40 silhouette. At the 300-yard line the sniper will load with five rounds. From the pits the target will come up for five seconds. The sniper will engage the target with one round. After five seconds the target will go down. Then the target will come up and move from left to right. The sniper will engage the target with one round. The target will then return in the opposite direction and again the sniper will engage the target with one round. This will happen two more times. A total of five rounds are fired at this yard line. A hit anywhere on the target is worth 10 points and a miss is worth zero. After the sniper has fired the observer will fire and do the same thing. They will both do the same thing at the 400,500 and 600 yard line. 20 rounds for 20 targets. The total points for this match is 200.

Later that afternoon the sniper teams prepared for the Night Cold Barrel engagement. The first thing the sniper teams did was to be given the KIMs test. They had 2 minutes to write down the 10 items they had observed early in the day. After that they road marched to another location and waited till it got dark. They were given a briefing on the Cold Barrel engagement. The teams were to go down a path that led to a sniper hide. A guide was to pick them up and move them into the hide. Once the team was setup, there was a target down range that they had to engage. A light lighted up the target. The target was an Iron Mike. The sniper had three minutes to range and engage the target. A first round hit was worth 50 points, a second round hit was worth 25 points and if the sniper did not connect with either round it was a zero. This was the end of day one.

View of the targets used for the Field Fire match.

29April was Day Two of the match. The sniper teams shot the Field Fire (Scope) match. In this match both sniper and observer will engage 5 targets at unknown distances. Two targets are F type iron mikes. The dimensions for these targets are 20x20. Three targets are E type iron mikes. The dimensions for these targets are 20x40. The sniper teams are brought up to the line, down range there is 5 targets at unknown distances. The scorer will designate the targets to the observer, in order of engagement, from near too far. The sniper will engage targets in the order designated by the scorer. The sniper will have two shots to obtain 1 hit on each target going from near to far, then repeating the process from far to near for a total of 10 separate target engagements. A first round hit is worth 10 points and a second round hit is worth 5 points. The total points for this match is 100. The closest target was at 310 meters and the farthest target was at 624 meters. There was several perfect scores fired in this match.

The sniper teams also had to do a Map reading test. They were given a map and ten questions. The test required the teams to find and plot points on the map. Many teams did well.

The match was a big success. We heard a lot of good comments about the match. A lot of planning went into this match. Thanks to the Sarts Section for all their hard work in putting on and running the match.

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